Indonesia plans to complete 13 trade agreements

The Indonesian government is seeking to complete 13 trade agreements with other countries and trade organizations in an attempt to boost its exports amid the trade war between China and the United States, which has seen a trend toward global trade protectionism. Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita said from the 13 afforded agreements, eight of which were in the process of negotiation, three were under revision and two were still in the initial process of negotiation.

“Most of the trade agreements can be signed next year,” he said in Jakarta on Tuesday, as quoted by kontan.co.id, adding that several others were expected to be signed this year.

He said one of the agreements that would be signed was the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA), the negotiation of which has been completed.

“Substantively, the IA-CEPA has been completed. We are just waiting on our foreign policy,” Enggartiasto said.

Another process that has been given high priority is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between ASEAN and six Asia Pacific states — China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, the minister said, adding that the RCEP would represent 45 percent of the world’s population. He said the Indonesian government was also pushing negotiations on the trade agreement between ASEAN and Australia and New Zealand (ANZFTA) as well as a trade agreement between Indonesia and the European Free Trade Association (IE-CEPA).

Meanwhile, trade agreements under the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) scheme with Mozambique, Tunisia and Morocco were expected to be completed this year, said Enggartiasto.